How to . . . ?

Preach the Preaching Text

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I have written before about staying within a low fence and generally sticking in the passage you are in for the message.  However, there is a similar but slightly different temptation we face as preachers.  It is the temptation to preach the whole book in which the text is found and fail to fully preach the text itself.

Why is this a temptation?  It doesn’t happen every time.  But if you are preaching a single message rather than a whole series (either as part of a series where others are preaching too, or as a stand-alone message), then you are more likely to face this temptation.  It comes from studying the passage in its context, the very thing you should be doing.  It comes from enjoying the study of the whole book, seeing the flow of thought perhaps clearer than you have before.  It comes from an understanding on your part that this text makes so much more sense once the context is fully understood.

What is the problem?  Well, you have to decide.  Should you preach the whole book, or should you preach the specific preaching text.  If it is part of a series, do not neglect your specific text.  If it is a stand-alone, you have the option of preaching the broader text (but if you do, remember that the message must be evident in the text sitting on listeners’ laps, whichever parts you point them to look at, or your message will apparently lack biblical authority).  The problem comes when you try to preach a specific text, but spend so much time giving the context and flow of the book that you fail to adequately explain the text that is read to the listeners.

So what to do?  Once a decision is made on whether you are preaching the main idea of the whole book, or the specific passage, check your outline/notes/manuscript.  Does the message content reflect your objective?  Be careful not to over-introduce.  It is painful, but cut unnecessary introduction and context.  Give enough to set up the preaching text, but be sure to preach the text itself.

Weighing Interpretation Options

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Yesterday I made passing reference to the process involved in deciding between options when interpreting some aspect of a passage.  Perhaps you can think of two or three ways to take it, to understand what it means.  Perhaps two commentators differ on the interpretation and offer different sets of evidence for their view.  These kind of decisions face us all the time as we are interpreting the Bible.  So how do we evaluate the accuracy and relative weight of the various evidences used to support possible interpretations of a passage?

I still use an approach I was taught in seminary.  It is not a formula that guarantees results.  It is not something that can be put in a spreadsheet and simply crunch the numbers, but as a guideline it is very helpful.  I will list six categories of evidence.  Evidence that sits in category 1 is generally worth more than evidence in category 3.  On the other hand, multiple evidences in different categories may outweigh single evidence in a “better” category, although not always.  This is a guide, not a hard and fast rule.  Here are the categories from most valuable to least:

1. Syntactical Evidence – support found within the passage’s structure or grammar.  This is the internal contextual support for an understanding of the passage.

2. Contextual Evidence – support found in the context of the passage.  The closer the context, the higher the value (immediate context, section context, book context, same writer context, etc.)

3. Lexical Evidence – support found in specific meaning of words used.  Since meaning of a word is determined by the company it keeps, this category actually overlaps with both syntactical and contextual evidence, but a lexical argument lacking in syntactical or contextual support stands here in third place.

4. Correlational Evidence – support found in more distant biblical support where the same word or concept appears.  A different writer may be using the term in a different way.  (Remember that a distance passage that is directly influencing your passage, such as an Old Testament section that is quoted, is much more significant and may be considered as category 2 evidence.)

5. Theological Evidence – support found in theology, rather than elsewhere in the Bible.  This is like correlation, but with a theological creed or system.

6. Verificational Evidence – support found in “experts” (ie.commentators, etc.)  Simply because a big name agrees is of minimal value.  Much better to integrate their arguments into the five categories above, then using the commentary adds much greater value to your study.

Remember, this is a guideline, but I think it is helpful.  It pushes us to look for understanding within the text itself and within the context.  Many people seem to lean heavily on distant unrelated, but familiar, passages.  They tend to rely on their system of theology and having an expert or two on side in an interpretive decision.  Much better to have the better evidence to support an interpretation too!

Make Clear Carefully

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In expository preaching one goal is to make clear the meaning and significance of what is written in the passage.  That sounds relatively easy until you start considering specific passages.  You know the ones I mean.  The passages that you study for hours in order to understand what the author was saying.  In the process you work through numerous possible interpretations with multiple sets of evidence to support each interpretation.  It drives you to evaluate the accuracy and relative weight of these different pieces of evidence as you move toward an understanding of the passage.  In the end, Sunday comes and you sometimes have enough material to teach a seminary course on the passage.

The goal in preaching is to give the fruit of the study labor, not every detail of your behind the scenes work.  Select enough explanatory comments to demonstrate that your understanding is solidly based on the teaching of the text, otherwise your message will lack authority.  When you are not clear on the meaning of every element in the text, find the balance between recognizing the difficulty of the passage, but not undermining confidence in that which is clear.  Be careful that the goal of explaining the meaning does not crowd out presenting the relevance of the passage by means of application.  Don’t let heavy study turn a sermon into a lecture.

When we preach we seek to make clear the meaning and significance of the passage.  That takes prayerful care because it is not easy.  Pray that today’s message will be genuinely expository and pleasing to the Lord.  Pray that the Lord will be at work in the presentation of His Word to His people by you, His servant in the power of His Spirit.  We do our part, but it is not possible to achieve anything lasting with our part alone.

Why State Ideas Explicitly? – Part 2

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Here’s the question again:

Since our culture is shaped by the communication of implicit and pervasive ideas, and much of the Scriptures use a narrative communication with ideas implicitly conveyed, are we communicating effectively when we state explicit ideas in preaching?

Two more thoughts:

Generally speaking, explicit statement of the idea is necessary if people are to have any chance of getting it. I’ve seen it time and again in preaching classrooms.  The preacher knows that the class will be asked what the main idea of the message was, so they try to exaggerate it, repeating it until they feel almost embarrassed to do so any more.  Then when the group is asked for it (knowing they would be asked and some looking for it throughout the message) . . . many fail to give the preachers idea accurately!  It is scary as a preacher to realize how easily people miss the main idea, even when we are explicit.  So we need to consider how to communicate that idea effectively.  Generally this means repetition, emphasis, etc.  Sometimes a better way is more subtle, but strong through subtlety (as in an inductive message – less repetition, but more impact).  Moving deliberately away from explicit statement of the main idea without a very good alternative strategy and plan seems like homiletical folly.

This question does raise a valid issue. Not only do we need to think about the explicit main idea of our message, but we need to consider our implicit communication.  How can we reinforce the main idea through implicit means during the sermon?  What other values and ideas are we conveying implicitly in this or any sermon?

Is it right to state the main idea explicitly?  I think it is.  But this does not call us to simple formulaic approaches to idea repetition.  It calls us to wrestle with our entire preaching strategy as we seek to convey the true and exact meaning of the biblical text with impact in the lives of our listeners.

Why Don’t They Return

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One of the perpetual questions for preachers and church leaders.  Why don’t visitors return?  Some churches may be persisting with “guest services” in some form or other that have not seen an outsider come in for years.  But other churches have some success at attracting guests or visitors.  If we get visitors, but never see them again, what is the reason?

Non-Preaching Reasons – This is a preaching site, so I have a tendency to think about the preaching part of church life, but there are many potential non-preaching reasons.  Are church members unfriendly?  Does the church put visitors in the spotlight and make them uncomfortable (“too friendly” approaches like, “would any visitors please stand up so we can welcome you with a round of applause, a huge bouquet of flowers and a fireworks display in your honor?”)  Does the whole experience feel uncomfortably alien to them?  (Remember that church culture is probably not their culture, so they don’t know when they’re supposed to stand, sit, look up a Bible reference, etc.)  Lack of personal connection (people ultimately come to church relationally, so if the relational connections are not made, return visits will probably not occur).  There are many more possible reasons, some of which are outside our control.  But for the sake of the gospel, take stock of everything from seating, welcomers, friendliness, to missing explanations of church service elements, to your own personal hygiene!  People matter, after all.

Preaching Reasons – Preaching is not everything, but it is a significant something.  Could visitors choose not to return because of their experience of your preaching?  Is your manner apparently false (lofty, outdated, affected, too “stained glass”)?  Is your preaching engaging or tedious?  Does it bear any relevance to their lives?  Can they follow what you’re talking about?  People are not used to sitting and listening to a speaker for an extended time (i.e. beyond five minutes!)  If your preaching is boring, irrelevant, strangely affected or unhelpfully aggressive, not to mention legalistic or apparently insincere (i.e. incessantly “nice” throughout) . . . well, they might not want to sit through it again!

Some elements of a visitor’s experience and motivation are beyond our control.  It is ultimately up to the Spirit to draw people to Jesus and the Gospel, as only He can truly convict and save.  But let’s not add any unnecessary barriers to the process.  Perhaps it’s time to take stock of everything from a visitor’s perspective.  This doesn’t mean transforming everything into an extreme seeker-sensitive church model.  Whatever your view on how church should be, surely we can agree it should be “visitor considerate.”

The Discouraged Preacher – Conclusion

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We have considered a lot of possible causes of discouragement over the past week.  David Wilson commented on some of these posts and also sent me some notes from a message he gave on discouragement.  To conclude this series I would like to quote the three simple but critical pieces of advice with which he concluded that message, and then a quote to finish.

How can we avoid discouragement in ministry?

1. Determine to please God alone. We can easily be tempted to pursue the applause of others, or even from ourselves, but the central issue has to be pleasing God only.  Our audience of One.  (See John 8:29, 2Cor.5:9 and Gal.1:10)

2. Spend time alone with God. Just as Jesus spent time alone with the Father, so must we.  Intimacy with Him must come before ministry for Him.

3. Set realistic goals. Some goals are out of our hands, and so can be a source of real discouragement.  Evaluate goals in ministry and make sure they are achievable as we lean on Him for strength and help.

Here’s a closing quote from Warren Wiersbe’s Walking With Giants (p268):

Discouragement is an enemy we must learn to expect, face honestly, and fight with all our strength. No man can preach the good news effectively if he himself is discouraged. We must try to understand the causes of our despair and, above all else, never yield to the expensive luxury of self-pity. The “I-only-am-left” complex can only lead to defeat. There are yet seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal. It would be nice if one of them would step out and stand by our side, but until then, let us dare to believe God’s Word and keep on going.

The Discouraged Preacher – Part 6

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One last category to consider:

13. When we feel alone as a preacher. When you stand to preach today, you are not alone.  Even in a church with several preachers, it can feel so lonely to sense that others view preaching differently.  Perhaps you are committed to expository preaching, while others persist in another approach.  Perhaps you are the only preacher.  Perhaps you’ve tried to influence other preachers, but they have not responded and your motivation is drained.  Feeling like you’re the only one committed to expository preaching is a tough place to be.  And it can be hard to talk about because it sounds like condemnation of other preachers, or arrogance.  But remember this, you are not alone in your commitment to expository preaching.  As you stand and try to present the true meaning of the text with effective communication and applied relevance to your listeners, you are one of many preachers doing the same.  Obviously it would be better if there were more, but don’t despair and fail to recognize that there are many training institutions teaching expository preaching, there are many organisations advocating for expository preaching, there are many expositors seeking to do the same as you.  We may not be the majority, we may not feel the camaraderie or support where we stand and serve, but we are not alone.

Pray for other expository preachers who you know will be preaching the Word today.

The Discouraged Preacher – Part 5

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We’ve covered ten categories already.  But there are still others, perhaps ones which we tend not to mention:

11. When numbers don’t matter, but it seems like they do. Hopefully we’d all agree that it doesn’t matter how many you preach to each week.  We don’t want to be caught up in finding self-worth from large numbers or fleshly fame.  But at the same time, numbers can discourage.  Why is it still just a couple of dozen (four of whom can’t hear anyway)?  Why is the church not growing?  It would feel better if a couple of hundred could be helped by my ministry, or a couple of thousand.  This is a real issue that often goes unstated.  It seems unspiritual to mention it.  But it is a category nonetheless.  There is a fine line between a well motivated desire for church growth and wrongly motivated desire for personal accolades.  We can only wrestle this through before God and allow His Spirit to convict that part of our mixed motives that is not pleasing to Him.

12. When we feel so cold spiritually. None of us want to preach when our own walk with the Lord is weak, but Sunday comes ready or not.  People pedestal preachers and we struggle to admit struggle.  But there are times when the heavens seem to be brass and your spiritual fire is more of a smoldering wick.  Times when the best you can hope for is that God has pulled back slightly to work in your character, but fears flash across the mind that it is worse than that – something about candlesticks being taken away, or to be more accurate on an individual level, that the Spirit is grieved.  Or there are times when a sin has a foothold in your life and while you may be repentant, you know the problem persists.  These are very real issues for us, whether we talk about them openly or more likely, not.  Obviously we need God for these things, we pray for that.  But perhaps it’s time to stop resisting the help of others too?  Perhaps God will answer our prayers through other believers, but we need to let them in.

Discouragement may come with the territory, but let’s seek to be discerning as to its source.  Then we can at least pray intelligently about a way to overcome it!

The Discouraged Preacher – Part 3

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We’ve considered unhelpful “pseudo-feedback,” and lack of the best feedback of all (life change).  Here are a couple more categories to consider:

6. Ministry drain. This can sneak up on a preacher.  Preaching takes a lot out of you.  It uses up stores of energy.  Not only physically, but spiritually, mentally, emotionally and relationally too.  Many preachers point to the post-preaching lethargy they experience.  Most non-preachers are unaware of this phenomenon.  The danger is that we forget it and then misread the drained feeling for discouragement through failure or whatever.  Answers are as common as paperbacks in a bookstore – rest more, exercise more, eat better, drink water, pray longer, pray earlier, have dates with God, have dates with your spouse, wrestle with your children, take Mondays off, etc.  No easy answer, but don’t misread the source of the discouragement.

7. Unhelpful Comparison. Number 1 was comparing your preaching to what you imagined it would be like ahead of time.  This time it is comparing your preaching to others.  It’s good to learn from others.  But don’t beat yourself up because you are not Robinson, MacArthur, Piper, Stanley, Miller, Craddock, Swindoll, Kaiser or whoever your personal favorite might be.  Super-preachers are a blessing to many, perhaps even to us as we listen to them on the radio or at mega-events.  But the people that hear you on Sunday morning need you on Sunday morning.  You may not be super-smooth or super-polished or super-funny or even a super-scholar, but you are a super-blessing as you faithfully preach the Word out of love for God and for them!  Be careful not to get down through unhelpful comparison.

I don’t want to make a post too long, so instead I’ll extend the series.  Another post to follow.

The Discouraged Preacher – Part 2

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In part 1 we saw how feedback can discourage us.  Typically this is not the carefully pursued constructive feedback – that is almost always helpful, and usually very encouraging (either reviewing your own preaching, or getting deliberate input from others).  It is the self-talk in the emotional aftermath of preaching, or the comments from others who perhaps haven’t fully thought through their criticism.  But discouragement can come from other feedback too:

3. Inanely positive feedback. While a critical comment not given carefully can steal joy and motivation, so can a wave of inane niceties.  How many handshakes and smiling “nice message!” comments does it take before discouragement sets in?  Hours of prayerful preparation, pleading at the throne of grace for life change and church renewal, personal sacrifices along the way and all you get is “nice message.”  We’re not entertainers!  Perhaps it is best to hold onto post-message comments very lightly.  Excessive criticism or excessive praise is best left at the throne of God.  The polite comments in between are not necessarily indicators of much at all, other than the listeners’ desire to be polite and appreciative.  You struggle with wording in the sermon, many listeners struggle with the wording of appreciation!

4. No feedback either way! It’s as if the preaching is just an expected element of the service, like notices or the start time.  This feels horrible for the preacher who has given so much.  It would probably be worth asking for feedback from certain people in order to show that you want to preach well, and to guarantee at least a few are listening purposefully!

5. Lack of real change. This is a biggie!  It’s the ultimate feedback on your preaching.  You pour yourself into ministry, believing God uses preaching to transform lives.  Over time you see the same old problems, the same old lack of motivation, the same old squabbles.  The church seems to be standing still or moving backwards.  Many experience this.  Perhaps it points to the need for reinforcement ministry outside the pulpit (discussion groups, Q&A times, personal mentoring, training sessions, etc.)  Perhaps it points to the need for more direct and specific application in the preaching.  Perhaps it simply points to the need to trust God and hang in there . . . sometimes it can take a lot of chipping away before the first cracks in the dam appear.  Preaching is a critical ministry, but it is not the complete answer to the needs of individuals or the church as a whole.  Nevertheless, we preach by faith!

That’s three more.  I’ll add more in part 3.  Feel free to pre-empt that post, or to suggest other categories of discouragement.